


Holding Your Scarred Heart In Hand

by aeon_entwined



Category: Green Lantern (Comic)
Genre: Author regrets nothing, Emotional Baggage, Hal has a thing for aliens, M/M, hurr hurr, mild verbal abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-22
Updated: 2012-05-22
Packaged: 2017-11-05 19:50:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/410356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aeon_entwined/pseuds/aeon_entwined
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>If there's one thing Sinestro regrets about having mentored Hal Jordan, it's having spent so much of his time doing so.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Holding Your Scarred Heart In Hand

**Author's Note:**

> Just found this idling in my drafts. It's set post-exile from the Corps for Sinestro, I do believe.

“Nice suit.”

Thaal Sinestro glances up from where he is currently re-outfitting his intergalactic transport to see Jordan hovering several meters above his head.

“Always were a sharp-witted one,” he comments wryly, turning back to the task at hand. “How many more one-liners have you got to throw at me, Jordan? Shall I brace myself?”

The human lands with a soft _thump_ beside him on the sparse grass. At least he’s grown to the point of being able to avoid looking like an overgrown child when he attempts to ground himself after flight. Humans certainly weren’t built to become part of the corps, but this one has been proving everyone wrong at almost every turn.

“Are you going to stop giving me that look or do I have to voluntarily submit myself to a psychological examination?” Thaal straightens after tweaking the console of his vehicle, giving Jordan a critical look.

“Do you _ever_ stop scowling at everyone?” Hal offers in return, crossing his arms over his chest.

He chuckles to himself, turning to regard the desolate warehouse next to which he landed his craft. “You do recall that I am an extraterrestrial life form with no biological connection to humans aside from vague resemblances in our shapes, yes?” Sinestro finally turns back to regard Jordan with a slightly tired expression. “Sometimes, Hal Jordan, I wonder if you even know me at all.”

“I know you well enough to guess you’re a possible liability, Sinestro,” Hal’s tone carries a hint of wariness, which Thaal is perceptive enough to notice. “Again.”

“Really. And what, pray tell, has inspired you to propose such an enlightened judgment call? Could it be the fact that I’ve been cast out? Stripped of my title as a Green Lantern? Forced to find my own way without the guidance of my fellows?”

Jordan’s eyes narrow, and Thaal knows he’s successfully managing to work his way beneath the human’s skin yet again. It’s really not that difficult, considering how volatile Jordan’s temperament can be, but it’s still entertaining.

“I’m not here to start that again. Can we please not make this into a fight?” Hal seems surprisingly passive today, though it’s a good front for the vibrating tension hidden in the very strands of his will. Thaal can sense it; he’s gotten exceptionally good at that with the acquisition of his new ring.

“You’re the one who usually starts our fights, Jordan. I’m merely pointing out the obvious. Which you somehow apparently overlooked.”

They stare each other down for a few moments, both refusing to give an inch. This is how the majority of their disagreements usually go; a stalemate that neither party is willing to overturn.

“The Guardians told me you’re a threat,” Hal says, hazel eyes going sharp and almost cold. “They told me you’re gonna end up like Parallax … and that I need to stop you.”

Thaal rolls his eyes dramatically, then spreads his arms in invitation. “You came all this way just to tell me that you’ve been sent to kill me?” his tone is decidedly mocking, though the traces of bitterness aren’t as well disguised as he’d thought. “Very well, Hal Jordan. I’m here. You have your mission and you have always been such a _duitiful_ solider. _Finish it_.”

Jordan lifts his right arm, preparing to strike with the power behind his ring.

Sinestro merely stares at him impassively. He can easily sense the internal war taking place between Hal’s sense of duty and the desire to prevent the potentially unnecessary death of his mentor. It is pathetically human.

With a harsh sound of disgust, he moves forward to wrap his hand around Hal’s throat, then to bodily shove the human against the smooth outer shell of his craft.

“You are _pathetic_ ,” Thaal hisses, tightening his fingers as Hal chokes and grasps at his wrist. “Had the Guardians given me a direct order, I would have obeyed immediately and without question. What in your puny human mind fails to comprehend this simple concept? Where did I fail so horrifically as a mentor?”

Jordan chokes out something garbled so Sinestro relaxes his grip just enough to allow the human to speak. “ _Fuck you_ ,” Hal bites out. “Fuck you and your fucking arrogance and self-importance!”

He squeezes the human’s throat once in warning, eyes narrowing to dangerous slits. “If you have anything more eloquent to say, I’m listening.”

“Jesus Christ! Isn’t ‘fuck you’ enough eloquence? I’m a human and I’m weak and I have a hard time understanding how you aliens can be in Spock mode all the time!” Hal scrabbles at the wrist keeping him pinned to the transport, teeth bared defiantly. “Don’t you _feel_ anything? _Ever_?”

Sinestro’s eyes widen for a split second, the gold irises flaring briefly. He stares at the human for a long moment, examining, evaluating. “You believe me incapable of expressing and experiencing emotion?”

Hal coughs roughly, but the look in his eyes is answer enough.

“Then you never knew me at all,” Thaal’s lip twists in a mockery of a smile before contorting into a grimace. He releases his hold on the human’s throat and shoves him away. “Get out of my sight, Hal Jordan.”

“What the h-“

_”I said get out of my sight!”_

He lashes out when Jordan tries to touch him, knocking the human’s arm aside. His natural defenses are in overdrive, closing him off to anything and anyone around him for fear of them sensing a weakness.

But as per usual, Hal Jordan is not someone who understands when to leave well enough alone.

Two familiar hands suddenly grasp his wrists and Sinestro’s instinctive reaction is to fight. So he does. He lashes out as well as he knows how, doing his very best to minimize any potential damage while still teaching Jordan to _mind his own damned business_.

He’s taught the human well, and he curses himself mentally for devoting so much time now that the training has been turned against him. Thaal wonders, briefly, if Abin ever felt like this during their sparring matches.

The thought inspires a flare of regret and aching emptiness, distracting him enough to allow Jordan to sock him solidly on the jaw and send him tumbling back against his transport. Momentarily stunned, Sinestro tosses his head side to side to reorient himself, only to find Hal already crouched over his legs, one hand on his shoulder.

“Stop,” the human demands. “Just .. stop.”

Too close, too close, too close. His mental alarms are going off, but Thaal has no intention of stopping. Instead, he curls a hand around the back of Jordon’s skull and yanks him down into a vicious, knife-edged kiss. 

Hal goes rigid beneath his hands, startled, but he becomes pliant surprisingly quickly. Sinestro rumbles a pleased sound against the human’s mouth, his free hand smacking flat against the center of the lantern emblem at the center of Hal’s chest.

The human startles, but the flinch gradually turns into a shiver as Thaal begins delicately coaxing the pure energy to retreat, baring Jordan’s flesh for him to examine.

He’s never touched human skin before. And while the differences between it and his own are minimal, there’s a certain texture to it that no one on Korugar possesses. He strokes the pad of his thumb down the center of Hal’s chest, marveling at the sensation of a light dusting of _hair_ dragging against his fingertip.

That’s enough to coax Thaal to break away from the kiss, leaving Hal dazed and a bit bewildered. But he has more important things to focus on, like this intriguing physical side of the human that he has not yet allowed himself time to explore. Dragging the pad of his thumb over small nubs of flesh situated at the center of Hal’s pectoral muscles earns him another shiver, as does leaning close enough to lick at the hollow of Jordan’s throat.

He can feel the human’s fingers moving restlessly against his nape, presumably searching out hair that doesn’t exist. Sinestro hums a laugh to himself, snaking his free arm around Hal’s waist in order to prevent him from escaping.

As if that was the permission the human had been waiting for, he can feel Hal’s palm splaying over the badge of fear emblazoned at the center of his chest. Thaal spares a second of concentration to order his suit to recede, then inhales sharply at the warmth of Jordan’s hand against his naturally cool skin.

There’s a sound of abject curiosity somewhere close to his ear, and he pulls back enough to notice Hal examining his chest with a slightly bemused look. The explorations continue to his abdomen, where Hal continues stroking over the very center of his belly.

Sinestro quirks a sharp eyebrow, awaiting an explanation that he knows is forthcoming since Jordan isn’t ever one to keep his mouth shut when presented with something new and exciting that he can’t wait to start demanding answers about.

“You don’t have .. stuff,” Hal begins, fingers moving restlessly again over the smooth musculature as though trying to uncover the missing “stuff” by sheer willpower alone.

“Alien, remember,” he exhales a breath over Hal’s ear. “Not like you.”

“Well, yeah,” the human seems mildly flustered, but that isn’t getting in the way of his interest. 

Hal nudges at the corner of his lips, teasing and yet still curious. “I was an anthropologist once, back on Korugar,” Sinestro offers almost casually. “I suppose that’s as close to an apology as you’ll get for my inherent interest in your physiology.”

“Anthropology, huh?” Hal raises both eyebrows several times, then shifts closer, thighs pressing briefly against his mentor’s. “Feel like doing some in-depth analysis?”

Thaal’s lips pull up into an amused smirk despite his want to dump a torrential waterfall of cold water over Jordan’s head. Humans are severely debilitated in these situations, especially the males, because their brains settle on a one-track process that leaves them singularly focused on sex. “That was the worst solicitation I’ve ever had the displeasure of encountering,” he chastises. “You’re lucky I’m already interested in you.”

“You wound me, Sinestro,” Hal feigns a look of genuine hurt, one hand going to press over his heart as though reacting to a mortal blow.

“Mm,” Thaal slides a hand back up the human’s nape to tangle his fingers in the attractively long brunette hair. He tightens his grip, then drags Jordan down into a surprisingly possessive kiss.


End file.
